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Goats: Friendly Animals That Can Be Cared for by Children

发布者: yucc | 发布时间: 2006-2-17 01:56| 查看数: 3790| 评论数: 10|

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I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. Goats have provided meat and milk for people longer than sheep or cows have. There are several hundred million goats in the world. Each year they provide millions of tons of meat and milk. Also, the hair from goats can be made into wool for clothing and blankets.
More people use milk products from goats than from cows. Goats’ milk improves the diet of many families around the world. Cheese made from goats’ milk is very tasty. In addition, goats are friendly animals. They can be cared for by children.
There are several ways to help goats produce more and better milk. One way is to give the animals high-protein plants like alfalfa, groundnut grasses and vegetable leaves to eat. The covering from rice is also high in protein. Providing a special diet for goats is better than letting the animals find their own food all the time.
Goats with horns seem to survive better in the heat than goats without horns. But all goats should have covered shelters where they can escape the rain and extremely hot or cold weather. If the goat shelter has a metal roof, it should be painted white to reflect heat from the sun. There should be plenty of fresh air inside the shelter.
Goats enjoy exercise and need to move around. When goats are inside a shelter, each adult animal should have at least two-and-a-half square meters of space. When they are outside, a fenced-off area should allow about forty square meters for each animal.
Fences should be about one-and-a-half meters to two meters high. Some wire fences can be dangerous for young goats. Their horns can become trapped. So make sure the wire fence is the right height for young goats.
Many of the same methods used to keep cows healthy can also be used with goats. In fact, sometimes young cows cannot drink a lot of their mother's milk because they get sick. Instead, they are given goat's milk to drink.
You can get more information about raising milk-producing goats from a publication offered for sale on the Web. It is listed at enterpriseworks.org. Click on the link for VITA publications.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Gary Garriott. Internet users can read and listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. And if you have a general question about agriculture, send it to special@voanews.com. I’m Steve Ember.
转自:<a href="http://www.onshowenglish.com/" target="_blank" >http://www.OnshowEnglish.com</A>

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-3-7 0:11:37编辑过]

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yucc 发表于 2006-3-7 00:08:52

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align=center>US Space Capsule Returns Comet Dust for Study of Solar System Formation
A U.S. space capsule containing precious grains of star dust has landed intact in Utah, giving scientists the chance to study matter dating from the formation of our solar system.
The landing ended a seven-year, 4.5 billion kilometer round trip journey halfway to Jupiter, where the Stardust spacecraft captured material spewing from Comet Wild-2 as it melted during its approach toward the Sun.

Stardust released its cargo Sunday, 110,000 kilometers above Earth. The capsule raced through the atmosphere faster than any spacecraft before. It came in at 45,000 kilometers per hour, before parachuting to a soft landing at a U.S. Army testing base in the Utah desert.
Stardust project manager Tom Duxbury says the entry and landing were flawless.
"This thing went like clockwork. It hit the atmosphere exactly on time," he said. "When we saw that drogue chute open, we knew we were home safe. So, then, the next thing was, of course, a little later, for our main chute opening, and this thing just gently lowered us to the surface of the Utah Test and Training Range."
A helicopter recovery team retrieved the capsule, and brought it to a nearby sterile room for safekeeping, before it is flown Tuesday to the U.S. space agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Stardust's encounter with the comet took place in 2004, well within the solar system, but mission scientists say it was as if the spacecraft had journeyed to the solar system's edge and back, to the time 4.5-billion years ago, when the sun and planets formed. That is because comet orbits extend far beyond Pluto and are believed to contain matter originally forged in stars that went into solar system construction.
"We're using this comet as a library that picked up records of the formation of our solar system, and has been storing them far from the Sun at very low temperatures for 4.5 billion years," added mission's principal investigator, Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington. He says the dust grains brought back to Earth can shed light on how our solar system came to be.
"We're learning about the origin of our solar system, the origin of the Sun, the origin of the planets, and something about the origin of life," he added. "Virtually all of the atoms in our bodies and in our Earth were in stardust grains, before the solar system formed."
The Stardust capsule contains hundreds of thousands of grains of matter captured in a wispy glass filter, called aerogel. After the samples reach Houston Tuesday, the space agency will distribute them to scientists all over the world, who will analyze their composition.

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-3-7 0:11:04编辑过]

yucc 发表于 2006-3-7 00:15:20

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The World Health Organization is reassuring people that they are not at risk of contracting the avian flu virus from eating properly cooked poultry and eggs.

The World Health Organization says it is worried people may stop eating chicken because of the growing concern about bird flu. During the mad cow scare, sales of beef plummeted. WHO spokesman Ian Simpson tells VOA there is no need to panic.
"At this stage, there is no evidence of anyone having become sick, anyone becoming infected with avian influenza as a result of eating properly cooked, properly prepared meat and egg from poultry," said Mr. Simpson. "So, there is no reason to stop eating chicken. There is no reason to stop eating eggs. But, there is every reason to insure that any chicken meat, any poultry meat or any eggs that are consumed are properly prepared and properly cooked."
The World Health Organization says thorough cooking will kill any virus, including the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu. Eggs from sick birds could also contain the virus. So, the World Health Organization advises people from affected areas not to eat raw, or undercooked eggs.
The U.N. health agency says birds from diseased flocks should not enter the food chain, and infected birds should not be used for animal feed. But, the World Health Organization says consumers run no risk of getting the virus through handling or eating poultry in areas where there is no bird flu outbreak.
Mr. Simpson says people in affected areas often are exposed to the H5N1 virus during the slaughtering and subsequent handling of diseased or dead birds. He says people can take precautionary measures.
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"For example, if people are preparing them, they should ideally be wearing protection of their face, and also protection of their hands," he added. "That the area where they are protecting them should be a hygienic area. It should be able to be completely cleaned, so that, at the end of the day, or at the end of the shift, when the chickens have been prepared, that all of the waste material is gotten rid of safely and hygienically, so that the waste material does not pose any risk to people coming into the area afterwards."
The World Health Organization says raw meat should be separated from cooked or ready-to-eat foods to avoid contamination. It says people preparing food in areas with avian-flu outbreaks should wash hands frequently, and all surfaces and utensils that have been in contact with raw meat should be washed and disinfected.
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[此贴子已经被作者于2006-3-7 0:17:41编辑过]

yucc 发表于 2006-3-7 00:16:46

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I’m Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. A listener in Burkina Faso named Irisso wants to know the place that agriculture occupies in the United States economy. The answer might be surprising.
The United States has the largest economy in the world. The size of an economy is usually described in terms of the Gross Domestic Product. The Gross Domestic Product, or G.D.P., is the value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year.
In two thousand four, the United States had a G.D.P. estimated at close to twelve million million dollars. What percentage of that was agriculture? The government says just nine-tenths of one percent.
Farm workers make up an even smaller percentage of American labor: seven-tenths of one percent.
So what is the Gross Domestic Product mainly a product of these days? In two thousand four, almost twenty percent came from industry -- and almost eighty percent came from services.
The number of farms continues to decrease in America. The Census Bureau counted a little more than two million farms in two thousand four. About half of those farms had less than forty hectares.
Still, farm earnings have risen to record levels in recent years. Agricultural productivity continues to increase because of new technology and methods. But the Agriculture Department estimates that nine percent of farm income last year came from government payments. That number is expected to decrease in the future.
Exports have provided American farmers with an average of about twenty-five percent of their money for the last fifteen years. What is the top export by value? Soybeans.
Canada and Mexico are two of the three biggest markets for American farmers. In fact, in two thousand two, Canada replaced Japan for the first time as the top buyer of American agricultural exports.
The Department of Agriculture says exports to the European Union are slowing. But exports to other countries within the Americas and to Asia are growing.
The United States has traditionally enjoyed an agricultural trade surplus. But that surplus has been eaten away as the United States imports more and more food.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. If you have a question, send it to special@voanews.com. We cannot answer mail personally, but we might be able to answer your question on our program. I'm Faith Lapidus.
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yucc 发表于 2006-3-7 00:20:02

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align=center>A Long Way from Home: Americans Farming in Brazil
I’m Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
To increase profits, some farmers change what they grow. But some farmers in the American Midwest are changing where they grow.
The Midwest is the traditional center of American agriculture. Yet some farmers from Iowa have recently made news by moving to Brazil. And not only from Iowa, it seems. Why such a big move?
In Brazil, undeveloped land can cost two hundred forty dollars a hectare, or less. That is a little more than one-tenth the cost of land in the Midwest.
Some of the farmers see low-cost land in Brazil as a way to expand their operations. And it may serve other purposes. It may help keep farming in the family, by letting other family members have their own farm.
Crops like soybeans and cotton grow well in Brazil's climate. The South American country has grown into a major agricultural exporter. It is the second largest exporter of soybeans after the United States.
In the last five years, millions of hectares have been newly planted in Brazil. Growth has been especially high in central states with grassland known as cerrado [pronounced ser-HAH-due]. It usually gets rain in summer and is dry in winter.
A company based in Iowa called Brazil Iowa Farms helps American investors and farmers invest in Brazil. David Kruse is the company president. He says it makes sense to invest in Brazil, and to do it with money borrowed in the United States. He says farming in Brazil is more profitable than in the Midwest, but borrowing costs in Brazil are high.
John Zulk is chief financial officer of Brazil Iowa Farms. Mister Zulk tells us that his company has three hundred investors. But he says he knows of only about ten or twelve American families that have moved to Brazil to start farms.
Farming in undeveloped areas is not easy. Many areas lack roads and railways to transport crops. Plus, laws and customs are different in Brazil. And the Portuguese language can be a barrier.
American farmers must also consider other issues. Changes in the exchange rate of the Brazilian real can shrink profits. Also, while Brazil is open to foreign investors, in most cases they must have a local partner. And farmers will not have the government protections or price supports they might have in the United States.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. Read and listen to our reports online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Shep O'Neal.

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yucc 发表于 2006-3-7 00:21:51

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align=center>Tokyo Stock Exchange Forced to Close Early After Massive Sell-Off
For the first time, the Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended all trading early to prevent a system crash after a surge in transactions. Heavy trading followed news that an Internet company popular with investors is under investigation for fraud.?The benchmark Nikkei index closed down about 465 points - nearly 3 percent for the day. 
The Tokyo bourse ended all trading 20 minutes before the scheduled end of Wednesday's session.
At a news conference in the afternoon, the exchange said it had been swamped by sell orders for a second day and warned its computers could only handle 4.5 million orders each day.

Exchange officials asked for restraint by investors and brokers, calling the situation a potential emergency, but the announcement merely prompted an even greater spike in orders.

Tokyo Stock Exchange President Taizo Nishimuro says it is obvious what caused Wednesday's surge.

Nishimuro says the situation was caused by the start of the unexpected criminal probe into the Internet company, Livedoor, and its subsidiaries.
A three-day sell off has now evaporated some $300 billion worth of shareholder value. And exchange officials warn they may shorten trading hours in the days ahead if the unprecedented deluge of orders continues.
Livedoor was suspended from trading Wednesday morning because of the criminal investigation.
The company grew into Japan's most famous dot-com business through mergers and stock swaps and made its chairman, Takafumi Horie, a celebrity and - to many young people - a national hero.

The chairman of the Japan Securities Dealers Association, Hiroshi Hoshida, says the Livedoor founder now has a lot to answer for.
Hoshida says Livedoor should feel deeply responsible for damaging confidence at a time when Japanese investors were just beginning to move their money from savings to stocks.
Media reports Wednesday say the allegations the company is facing include falsifying earnings results and spreading false rumors to manipulate stock prices.
Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda, who also heads Japan's most influential economic group, the Japan Business Federation, says if Horie or his company are found guilty of any crimes, they would be ousted from the association.
Okuda says the organization made a mistake by admitting Livedoor prematurely.
After the early close of Wednesday's trading session some analysts say selling pressure will continue, unless the exchange restores confidence by upgrading its computer system to handle a glut of orders. But others say many investors will realize the massive sell-off now offers a number of bargains.
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[此贴子已经被作者于2006-3-7 0:22:25编辑过]

yucc 发表于 2006-3-7 00:23:58

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align=center>Scientists Examine Protein's Possible Connection to Longevity 
I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.
Economics and weather have a lot in common. Knowing what conditions will be like weeks or months in the future is not easy. One thing that helps economists predict the future is the index of leading economic indicators.
An index is a way to measure changes in a group of numbers over time. In financial markets, for example, an index of stocks will rise or fall with changes in the wider market. The changes measured by an index can be represented with a single percentage.
The index may start at a base period of time with a value of one hundred. Now say that a month later the value is recorded as one hundred one. That means it gained one percent. If the index lost one percent, however, the value would be ninety-nine.
The leading economic indicators are really ten indexes. Four deal with manufacturing activity. One deals with unemployment claims. Another measures people’s expectations of the economy. Still others involve financial information like the money supply and interest rates.
The index of leading indicators is just one of the tools used to measure the business cycle. Business cycles are the normal changes that happen in economic growth over time.
A measure called the coincident index provides information about current conditions. Employment rates are an important part of it. There is also a lagging index. It helps confirm economic changes that currently appear to be taking place. Interest rates are an important lagging indicator.
The Conference Board publishes economic indicators for the United States. The Conference Board is a non-profit organization based in New York. It brings together business leaders to learn new ideas from one another. It has member companies around the world.
The Conference Board also does economic research. Its work helps show business and government leaders what conditions might be ahead.
But this group did not always produce the index of leading economic indicators. It took over the job in nineteen ninety-five from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the Commerce Department.
The Conference Board also publishes economic indicators for Australia, France, Germany and Japan. Others are Britain, Mexico, South Korea and Spain.
This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. Read and listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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yucc 发表于 2006-3-7 00:27:27

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align=center>New Efforts Aim to Get More H.I.V. Drugs to Poor Countries
I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Development Report.
The fight against AIDS got some more help earlier this month. The Swiss drug manufacturer Roche and the Clinton Foundation announced separate efforts to provide H.I.V. drugs to poor nations.
Roche says it will provide drug companies in developing nations with technical assistance to make copies of a drug called saquinavir. Saquinavir is taken in combination with other medicines. It is used to treat H.I.V. patients with or without AIDS.
H.I.V. is the virus that develops into AIDS. Victims lose their ability to fight infections. For example, many people with AIDS die of tuberculosis.
Roche says it plans to start its technology transfer program in more than sixty nations, mostly in Africa and Asia. Officials say the countries represent about seventy percent of all people living with H.I.V. and AIDS. Medical experts say more than forty million people are infected around the world.
Roche says it will have a special team to deal with requests later this year. The company's chief, William Burns, says the drug maker wants to share its knowledge to help strengthen local drug manufacturers. Some of the team will be based in Africa.
The action announced by the Clinton Foundation involves two other H.I.V. medicines: efavirenz and abacavir. The foundation has negotiated agreements with drug makers to cut the cost of these two antiretroviral drugs by more than thirty percent. This will involve five companies in India and South Africa.
The Clinton Foundation says it has also secured agreements involving tests for H.I.V. Four companies have agreed to provide developing nations with testing supplies at half of what they cost now. The companies are in China, India, Israel and the United States.
Bill Clinton calls the agreements an important step in the fight against H.I.V. and AIDS. The former president says that together they will help fifty developing nations.
H.I.V. can be spread by sexual relations, or infected blood or blood products. The virus can pass between pregnant women and their babies, and between drug users who share injection needles.
Last year the world had an estimated three million AIDS-related deaths and five million new infections. Medicine can suppress H.I.V., but not prevent it or cure it.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Read and listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.
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yucc 发表于 2006-3-7 00:37:22

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align=center>Don't Know Much About Mulch?
I'm Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Mulch is important to farmers. Mulch is a protective cover of material that is spread on top of soil. It is usually made out of organic material, like crop waste. Farmers may keep the remains of maize or other crops on top of the soil. This creates mulch on the soil surface. The plant remains help protect the soil against wind and water damage. This is called conservation tillage.
Mulching is one of the best things people can do for their plants. Mulch not only protects the soil against wind and water damage. It also helps keep the soil from getting too dry, and reduces the need for watering plants. It also limits temperature changes in the soil. And it stops unwanted plants, or weeds, from growing.
Organic mulch improves the condition of soil. As the mulch breaks down, it provides material which keeps the soil from getting hard. This improves the growth of roots and increases the movement of water through the soil. It also improves the ability of the soil to hold water. Organic mulch contains nutrients for plants. It also provides a good environment for earthworms and other helpful organisms in the soil.
The United States Department of Agriculture says it is easy to find organic mulch materials. Cut-up leaves and small pieces of tree bark can be used. Grass cuttings are also a good mulch for plants. Mulch from newspapers works well in controlling weeds.
The best time to add mulch depends on your goal. Mulch provides a thick barrier between the soil and the air. This helps to reduce temperature changes in the soil. As a result, mulched soil will be cooler than other soil in the summer. Mulched areas usually warm up more slowly in the spring and cool down slowly in autumn. In winter, the mulched soil may not freeze as deeply as other soil.
Mulch used to help moderate the effects of winter weather can be added late in autumn. The best time is after the ground has frozen, but before the coldest weather arrives. Spreading mulch before the ground has frozen may attract small animals searching for a warm place to spend the winter. Delaying the spreading should prevent this problem. The animals will probably find another place to live.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by George Grow. Read and listen to our reports online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Faith Lapidus.

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kevin 发表于 2006-3-7 09:00:41